Sprint's First 5G Phone Won't Be Thick as a Brick

By
Sascha Segan15 Aug 2018, 3:22 a.m.

LG will build a 5G phone for Sprint's network coming "in the first half of 2019." We have some exclusive details.

Sprint and LG announced today that they'll have a 5G phone together "in the first half of 2019" when the carrier's 5G network launches. This is the second 5G phone announcement we've seen, after Motorola and Verizon unveiled a 5G add-on for the Motorola Z3 phone coming "early next year."

John Tudhope, Sprint's director of product marketing, told us in an exclusive interview that this is indeed a real phone. Tudhope confirmed the device is already moving into testing, not a prototype or statement of intent. He also said it will be a lot less clunky than Motorola's 5G mod approach.

"We have a final hardware design that we're pretty excited about ... It is 100 percent a truly integrated smartphone that we think will be the first of its kind. It is a really elegant, high-end premium look-and-feel phone ... not much thicker than a normal high-end premium smartphone, and will have the appropriate battery to account for the power needs," he said.

Sprint confirmed the phone has already been designed and built, meaning it probably won't have Qualcomm's upcoming integrated 4G/5G Snapdragon 855 chipset, which Qualcomm is expected to announce in December. Instead, we're more likely to see this phone have a Snapdragon 845 with an add-on Qualcomm X50 5G modem, which will together consume more power than later 855-based devices.

Tudhope, of course, wouldn't confirm any of those specs.

Sprint is moving fast because "we want to innovate and lead in this space," Tudhope said. "You're starting to see more and more of the carriers and OEMs start to signal their intent with 5G," and Sprint wants to make it clear it'll be in the vanguard.

The phone will connect to Sprint's 5G network on the 2.5GHz frequency band, although it may have "dormant" abilities to connect on other 5G bands. Sprint has promised 5G in nine cities during the first half of 2019, and its mid-band spectrum is designed for citywide coverage.

"2.5 is the spectrum we have to take advantage of right now," Tudhope said.

Sprint chose LG as a partner because "we have a history of innovation with LG; they're a really good partner of ours, and we've done a lot with them in the past," Tudhope said.

Sprint wouldn't give more details on the features or pricing of the phone or the 5G service, except to say that "Sprint has a history of providing the best value for its products and services, and we certainly would intend to [do that.]"

All four US carriers have committed to launching mobile 5G networks by next year. AT&T will probably be the first, as it has said it will have a mobile 5G system with a dedicated hotspot, rather than a phone, by the end of 2018.

We're expecting many more 5G phone announcements starting this December. Qualcomm will probably announce the first integrated 5G phone chipset, the Snapdragon 855, around December 5; that will lead to phone announcements at Mobile World Congress in February.

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About the Author

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 9 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, one of the hosts of the daily PCMag Live Web show and speaks frequently in mass media on cell-phone-related issues. His commentary has appeared on ABC, the BBC, the CBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and in newspapers from San Antonio, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta.

Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer, having contributed to the Frommer's series of travel guides and Web sites for more than a decade. Other than his home town of New York, his favorite ... See Full Bio